Category Archives: Judicial

The Northern District of West Virginia has a new federal judge. Gina Groh was confirmed by the US Senate by a 95-2 vote on Thursday, March 15, 2012. Groh grew up in the Eastern Panhandle and was appointed to the 23rd judicial circuit court by Governor Joe Manchin. She also spent 8 years as a prosecuting attorney. Groh graduated from the WVU College of Law. Read the rest of this entry →

The West Virginia Supreme Court recently upheld the WV House of Delegates controversial redistricting plan with a 4-1 vote. Justice Brent Benjamin was the sole dissenting voice. The courts rejected 5 legal challenges; three against the House of Delegates’ plan and two against the Senate’s. They found nothing in either the House or Senate plan that was not in-line with the state constitution. Read the rest of this entry →

Of 2,104 cases that came across his desk between September 2009 and March 2011, Social Security Administration Judge David B. Daugherty, who worked in the Huntington, WV Appeals Office, awarded federal disability benefits to all but four individuals. Social Security Judges decide claimants’ appeals if they have been denied at least twice by the SSA. Federal prosecutors are also investigating whether or not the Judge received improper payments for his decisions, as one specific lawyer has received over $3 million in payments from the SSA due to his rulings alone. The attorney, Eric Conn of Kentucky, is believed to be under investigation also. Read the rest of this entry →

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Musselman High School and Berkeley County Schools acted within its authority when it suspended a student, Kara Kowalski, for creating a MySpace page which contained insults about another student. Even though the internet postings were made off-campus, the courts ruled that the speech was within the school’s jurisdiction because it was disruptive to the educational process at the school and that it interfered with the “rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone.” Read the rest of this entry →